Participants of a rally welcome a man (C) who was just released from a city police department and who was earlier arrested after recent street battles between pro- and anti-Kiev protesters in the Black Sea port of Odessa May 4, 2014. (Reuters/Gleb Garanich) / Reuters

Sixty-seven anti-government activists detained by police in the south Ukrainian city of Odessa have been released after a crowd of locals blocked the Interior Ministry building. Those released reportedly included survivors from the deadly May-2 fire.

According to Galushko, riot police present at the scene were
standing idly by, while the people chanted "Heroes!" and
"Freedom!"

The release of just several activists did not, however, appease
the crowd. Some of the protesters attempted to get inside the
building, shouting "Fascists! Fascists!"

Eventually, 67 activists have been released, Odessa police
department’s press service has said. More than 1,000 people were
blockading the police department at the time of the statement,
according to Itar-Tass. Part of the crowd had broken down the
entrance gate and gained access to the building’s courtyard.

Around 100 people rallying in central Odessa on Sunday initially
blocked the local Interior Ministry department in protest against
the detention of anti-government activists following the tragic
events of Friday, May 2. The protesters have
been trying to prevent the police from sending the detained,
which reportedly include dozens of survivors of the Trade Union
House fire,
to the regional court building.

The release wasn’t taken lightly by Odessa’s regional governor,
Vladimir Nemirovsky, who described the move as an attempt by some
people in law enforcement to cover themselves.

“I know who took the decision to release the detained
criminals. And more importantly I know who took the decision to
keep them in Odessa instead of in another region,” he wrote
on his Facebook page. “If Odessa region wants to live in
peace and order, the law enforcement, the region’s
administration, the army and all the systems of government must
work as a single organism.”

Nemirovsky previously justified the burning of anti-Maidan
protesters by radicals, saying that “actions aimed at
neutralizing and detention of armed terrorist are considered
lawful.” He has accused the Odessa police chief of failing
to crackdown on the protest and pushed for the central government
in Kiev to replace him.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has announced that 160 of the
“most active participants in the mass unrest” have been
detained and charged with creating “mass disorder” and
“threats or violence against the law enforcement.”
Earlier, the ministry blamed anti-Kiev protesters for initiating
the violence on Friday and even for starting the fire that
claimed the lives of 39 of their fellow activists.

Despite clear evidence that the pro-Kiev radicals set Odessa’s
House of Trade Unions ablaze and shot at the people from the anti-government tent
camp who barricaded themselves inside the building, the Western
mainstream media is also being ambiguous about the causes of the
tragedy.

Hundreds of people in Odessa on Sunday continued to bring flowers
and candles to the House of Trade Unions amid the three-day
mourning period for victims of the May 2 clashes. In eastern
Ukrainian cities, such as Donetsk, Lugansk, and Kharkov, hundreds
gathered for rallies in memory of those killed in Odessa,
delivering anti-government slogans.

In the Russian Republic of Crimea, the local government announced
a three-day mourning to commemorate the innocent victims in
Odessa and to express solidarity with the people of southeastern
Ukraine.

In Moscow, people have been taking flowers, icons, candles, St.
George ribbons, and Ukrainian flags to the Ukrainian embassy.
Many cried, while some rallied in front of the embassy against
the coup-imposed Kiev government.